


Lost Soul

by apsaralice



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Blood Loss, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hurt Stephen Strange, Hurt Tony Stark, Irondad, It’s a mess, M/M, Magic, Mind Control, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Self-Harm, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, the avengers are background, they fight magic creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-04-06 05:33:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19056232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apsaralice/pseuds/apsaralice
Summary: Thanos was dead, they had won.Tony Stark decides to leave the Avengers and fight on his own, he decides to live how it feels right for him, alone.Until a strange discovery forces him to get back in touch with a certain wizard with great facial hair.It’s post Infinity War but not really compliant! I kinda decided to ignore Endgame lol. More context will be given throughout the story :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I honestly have no idea how far I’ll take this fanfiction but I hope you’ll stick around. I’m really bad at writing and English is NOT AT ALL my first language. I tend to make lots of grammar mistakes, hope you’ll forgive me, I really try my best! Also : Endgame broke me.

Stephen Strange was trying his best to focus on his astral planning when something troubled him. A presence, at the doors of the Sanctum. The sorcerer groaned before snapping out of his meditation. Would could honestly come bother him at noon in the middle of the summer? He swore if it was just a confused mailman or a Jehovah's Witness, once again, he would open a portal right under their feet and send them directly to the dark dimension. 

“Wong?” He called out. “Would you mind check—“ He sighed. He had forgotten the other sorcerer was out of the country and had been for the past 2 days. The man was always here to bother him but never there when his presence was actually required. “Guess I’ll have to do it myself.”

What confused the man, however, was the fact that whoever was standing on their porch had not knocked, not even once. He frowned as he hovered down the stairs, Cloak of Levitation adjusting itself on his shoulders. When he was finally facing the wooden doors, he traced a straight line with his fingers and they flew wide open. Revealing...

Tony Stark, stopped before he could knock.

The engineer had to admit it had been a rather difficult decision to come to the Sanctum. And a humiliating one, in his opinion. He had been struggling to understand the origin of signals his armor kept picking up whenever he would fly across Alaska for a few weeks now, before, during one of his most recent trips, the entire Iron Man Armor had undergone a total shut down and the man found himself falling 16,000 feet directly into the snowy mountains. Thankfully the suit rebooted only a few minutes later but it was enough to freak the hero out. Whatever had caused the interference was definitely abnormal.

Yes, he had thought of every little thing which might be causing those weird signals but only to reach dead ends each time. And then Stark had thought of aliens, magic, whatever, but something disturbing the Earth’s polarity itself and strong enough to send electromagnetic waves way more powerful than EMP’s which could incapacitate his(own, made with love, very powerful and supposedly NOT vulnerable) suit. Magic was definitely not something he would have considered a few years back, but God knows, after everything they had been through in New York, Sokovia and ESPECIALLY on Titan, he was expecting anything.

So yeah, he had ended up on the Sanctum’s porch, a place he had only visited once or twice under very particular circumstances and which he preferred not to remember. He had stood there for quite a while before he deciding to knock when the doors opened and he found himself facing the Sorcerer Supreme himself.

“Stark.” The man sounded as stolid as Tony remembered. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hi Strange Doctor!” He in invited himself in. “I, uh, was around and decided it would be nice to pay you and Wong—oh and obviously the weird piece of fabric— a visit, you know, since we’re work buddies!”

The Cloak’s edges tightened as Stark guessed it was pissed by his comment. It really was as stubborn as his master. Whom, by the way, was still standing in front of him we a raised eyebrow. 

“Spare us the unnecessary talking and get straight to the point will you? Obviously you did not come here to pay Wong and I a visit’.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong, wizard—“

“Sorcerer.”

“...sorce.. whatever, that’s where you’re wrong Doc, I genuinely wanted to know how you were doing after all these months, how you survived without my presence at your sides.” He scratched the back of his head. “I’m actually offended you thought I would only come here to ask you a favor. That’s like, really not my thing to do.”  
Strange scoffed. 

“Is Wong here? Haven’t seen him for months since Thanos! I hope he’s not mad at me for not inviting him to my wedding in the end since, you know... It did not really happen.” And there he was, rambling in front of an unimpressed wizard who looked a lot like he was judging him. He turned his gaze to a weird object placed on the top of a column he couldn’t quite identify and pretended to be interested when the man spoke again.

“Wong’s not here and this is a relic, Stark.”

“I’m aware! Very... fascinating.” The doctor was still staring intensely at him and it felt strange (ah!) after all these months. He gave up and sighed.

“Ok, I admit, I do have something, or rather, a favor to ask you.”

The other man scoffed. “Obviously. Spill it out.”

“No need to act so bitchy about it! It’s huh... actually it’s about some weird stuff going on and I highly suspect it to be magic or alien related.” Strange gave him an eye-roll and suddenly the world around the genius started spinning. A second later, he was falling straight into a old-looking (but comfortable) stuffed armchair in a totally different room. The magician sat in a similar seat in front of him.

“What—“

The other man sighed.

“Did you just teleport me or—“ 

“Yep.”

“Warn a guy for god’s sake! If you don’t want your expensive carpet soiled with...” he paused. What was the last meal he ate?

“...coffee.”

Stark ran a hand through his dark hair which, he had to admit, had been neglected for the past few weeks. It was now a mess of curls falling down his forehead and he hated it. Would be fixed.

“Anyways, so, hmm, here’s the deal : the very sensitive captors of my suit have been picking up signals coming from an area in the Alaskan mountains, not far from Summit Lake or whatever it is called. So did all the engines I brought there and there’s more to it, my SI satellite is invisible when it flies across the area. No way to detect it. Nada. Like something is blocking the way. I’m surprised the government hasn’t noticed already, tho the area kinda is desert. So obviously I’ve ran scans and the signals emanating from there have such a small wavelength —never seen that before— which means they’re incredibly powerful. Also, their composure doesn’t match any known elements. But it’s not like totally different, more like a variation.”

He looked up at the Doctor, whose chin was placed graciously in his scared right hand. He would have to ask about it one day. The man was listening carefully, or it seemed.

“Point is, I have no idea what that shit is but the lack of knowledge is getting on my nerves. That’s why I need one Sorcerer to confirm I’m not going crazy, and I’m only familiar with one : yours truly.” He exhaled sharply, relieved to be finally done.

“Why didn’t you just ask right away? Obviously if it’s that big of a deal I’ll help. I kinda swore to protect your reality if you recall.”

“Well...”

“Is it because you’re really bad at communicating or is it just...”  
“..that you find it humiliating to ask for my help?” He smirked and Stark hated it already.

“..no..? I just..”

“Nah, cut the crap Stark, it’s fine, I won’t rub salt in the wound.”

Gosh if Tony could punch the man in his perfect teeth right now he would, but he had to keep his cool. As annoying and insufferable the wizard was, he was his only chance to solve his problem and the genius couldn’t just waste that.

“So will you help?”

“Yeah, sure, can’t let a comrade down. Plus I’m sure if I don’t you’ll start harassing me about it.” This time it was Tony who rolled his eyes.  
He stood up and reached out to the magician, waiting for him to shake his hand. 

“Glad we‘re on the same page.” When the man did no such thing, he withdrew his own and shrugged. He stopped himself from making a snarky comment when his eyes fell on the taller man’s hands laying at his sides. Red, scarred, shaking lightly. Yeah, very smooth Stark. He hoped Strange hadn’t noticed him staring (which he obviously did) and headed back to the front door.

“Huh wizard? A little help here? I don’t know how big your mansion his but I kinda need to get home.” At his words his vision started spinning again and he found himself facing the entry. The doors flew wide open again and Tony cursed when he saw the rain pouring down.

“I’ll need you to send me the coordinates, Stark.” 

“Oh sure, will do asap.” He replied as he wondered if Strange actually had a computer, a phone, whatever but anything not old and dusty he could communicate with. He turned back to face the street. He would never admit it, but he wished the sorcerer had stopped him and just told him ‘hey, I’ve got an umbrella for you.’ or just ‘i can portal you right to the Stark Tower if you want’, though he had probably assumed the billionaire had come in d new expensive car.  
But he hadn’t, he had walked to the Sanctum.

He sighed once again and reaches for his phone as the doors shut. 

“Happy? Can you help your boss out? I need a ride back to the Tower, FRIDAY will send you my location. Yeah, sure. Thanks.”

 

________

For the first time in weeks, if not months, Stark collapsed on his bed. His own king-sized bed in his own bedroom in his very own tower in the middle of Manhattan. He took off his shoes and stretched to reach the bottle of expensive champagne which lay on the expensive marble table facing the large window bay with a magnificent view on New York’s skyline. Still resting on the mattress, he poured himself a drink before contemplating the city. As much as he liked his room in the Tower, it didn’t feel like home. It had never felt warm and welcoming.  
The only place where he would spend the majority of his free time was obviously the lab. The genius would lock himself for days without proper meals or sleep to work on various projects. But he also knew the lab wasn’t home. He would go down there whenever he felt stressed and anxious, whenever he needed to be alone for a while. It was definitely where the magic happened, but if only the world knew what kind of energy fed his creativity, that would be a lot less fun. Anxiety, PTSD, all sorts of traumas he had gathered through his years as a hero.  
Home had once been by the Avengers’ side.  
Home had once been by Pepper’s side.  
But both were now bitter memories from a time of obliviousness, when his own creation wouldn’t turn against him and psycho aliens wouldn’t threaten the entire universe.

As he sipped the cold beverage, his thoughts drifted to Pepper. Whom he had loved and had planned a life with, whom he was supposed to marry before the Thanos mess had happened. So many time they thought things wouldn’t work out between them because Tony was a reckless, self-sacrificing idiot who would face any danger and risk his life each time without thinking of the consequences on his surrounding. He had been given an ultimatum : to give up on his superhero life or lose her, and knowing she was the only person left who could prevent him from doing the worst, he couldn’t allow it.  
But there he had been, stuck on an alien ship to save a wizard and to babysit a Spiderling, millions of kilometers from Earth. So even after their victory, Pepper and him were no more. She had spent hours explaining him that it was not his fault, that she knew duty called and he had to act otherwise he would just be utterly selfish and that she supported his will to help the world but it still was too much for her to handle. She had told him she couldn’t stand the fear of loosing him and she knew he would never be able to keep the promise he had made to stay off-duty. That they could never be a family this way.

So Tony had nodded. He had accepted the situation. Had told her he would always love her and then, he had gone back to his tower.  
And had drunk, a lot, for days.

Now things were better, it had been a few months, peaceful weeks which had allowed the billionaire to take time for himself. By that he obviously meant doing anything but the usual Stark’s pack of events (charity galas, conferences, meetings and debates with politicians most likely regarding those damn accords which still weren’t a thing..) or designing and building gears, weapons and all that stuff for the remaining avengers. 

Despite their contribution in the Thanos situation, although they didn’t do much in Tony’s opinion, the world and especially the American citizens were still divided regarding the Rogues’ pardon and comeback into the country. They were still seen, for the most part, as criminals who turned against dozen of countries and killed thousands of people. The US government had finally agreed to accept Rogers and his team back on their land but they had lost the title of Avengers and were now monitored. It was something like that. The thing was, Tony had totally stopped giving a single fuck about them and it had felt reaaally good. He just knew Rogers was mad, so it couldn’t be good for them whatsoever.  
Stark had, however, done everything in his power to help James Buchanan Barnes, the former Hydra asset and his parents’ murderer, to get out of there. The years that had followed to so-called “Civil War” had allowed him to think back on the situation and he had concluded he was in the wrong regarding Barnes (which he had always known, but again, finding out your parents’ killer is standing 5 feet from you can lead to dangerous reactions).  
The man just needed therapy, a good psychologist and above al, to stay away from the toxic and judgmental Star Spangled Man who pretended to be his BFF.  
Barnes had accepted, tho they hadn’t had the chance to properly talk it out, not that Stark was looking forward to.

For his part, the genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist —well, had left the Avengers. It was more complicated than that actually. He was seen as a true hero by all nations now and still liked being one. He could keep his suit and had been given carte blanche to save the world. Pretty neat if you asked him.  
But being a member of a team, having to lead or follow orders again? Not really his thing anymore. And he wasn’t the only one : Bruce was no longer an active hero, Dr. Strange was a loner, Ant-Man and The Wasp an epic duo and well, the Gardians of the Galaxy joined by Thor were doing well enough on their own.  
They would often meet up to fight big threats (and be joined by Peter) or just to have lunch together and tell about their life stories. 

That was Tony Stark’s life. It wasn’t THAT bad compared to what he had been through. But trauma never leaves.

His eyelid became heavy and Tony put down his drink before rolling in the soft sheets. He was exhausted. He had not gotten a proper night of sleep (more than 5h) in weeks and his body had reached its limits. His right arm covering his eyes, he called out.

“FRIDAY, my savior ?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“Would you mind—uh... sending the, you know...”

“Coordinates your were supposed to send to Mr. Strange earlier?l

“well, I kinda had a meeting and got carried away but yeah, thanks girl.”

“Rest well Boss.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know where I’m going with this, and my writing his terrible, I apologize. One day I’ll hopefully master the language of Shakespear lol  
> also : PETER!

Tony Stark exhaled sharply as he got in his expensive Tesla. The crown was packed around the car, shouting and cameras flashing. He put on his usual pair of purple-tinted glasses and leaned forward to talk to his driver.

“Happy, for the love of god, just bring me home.”

The man nodded and the genius leaned back on his seat, closing his eyes.  
A long time ago he would’ve faked a smile more easily, would’ve played the billionaire and playboy part perfectly. But today he was exhausted, like he had been for the past few months.  
When they finally managed to escape the reporters, Happy spoke up.

“By the way, a certain Stephen Strange has requested to meet you as soon as possible while you were giving your speech.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, eyes still shut. “Oh yeah? Damn, it feels like the old days.”

“Are you two up to superhero business?” His driver and friend asked. After the snap, things had changed between them and they had grown way closer.

“Kind of...I guess? I need his help for something, but it has nothing to do with the..” He stared at the traffic outside. “..Avengers.”

“Sure. He seems like a great guy.”

Tony scoffed. _An arrogant prick, you mean._

____________________

“Hi Mr. Stark!” Peter Parker was wearing an oversized grey hoodie (probably Ned’s) and ripped black jeans when he entered the Tower. The older man greeted him with an embrace and the teenager immediately noticed how tired he looked. But he also seemed... content.

“Hey Spiderling.” He furrowed his brows and looked down at the plastic bag the boy was holding. “Okay, I have no idea what that is but it smells damn good.”

“Yeah, actually, Aunt May made them for you!” He took a box out of the bag and handed it to Tony. “Donuts.” His mentor couldn’t suppress his wide smile as he took a bite.

“God I love May, tell her she’s the best.” He licked the top of his finger and went to the kitchen island. “But tell me, you didn’t only come here to give me donuts, did you?”

The teenager scratched the back of his scalp and looked up with an unsettled gaze. “Well, I also wanted to make sure you would come tomorrow, you know, the Gardians are paying us a visit and it’s been a while since we’ve seen Thor! I know you’re busy but...” Tony gave him a nonchalant nod to go ahead. “...I think it would do you good to go out.”

He parted his lips, wanting to comment on that last part— _what the fuck? He wasn’t a dog, he didn’t need to go out to feel well?_ — but then he remembered what Happy had told him earlier, about Strange wanting to meet. And since the sun was getting really low, he guessed it would be for tomorrow. He sighed and ran a hand through his slicked hair.

“I... I would gladly come if I could but you see, I’ve got some really important stuff to deal with.” His heart ached when he spotted the disappointed look on the boy’s face. He then whispered : “But I am going out, if that makes you feel any better. I have an appointment with the wizard”

“The w- Doctor Strange?!” He asked excitedly. “I didn’t know you two were still in touch! It’s been so long...since Thanos.”

Stark rolled his eyes. Why was everyone making such a fuss when it came to the wizard and him? It was like they were happy he had to deal with that idiot. It’s not like he wanted to.

“Yep” He popped the “p” and the end. We need to team up to work on something. I’m sorry kid, I really can’t come.”

“It’s... it’s okay, Mr. Stark.”

“But,” Peter looked up. “I do have some toys for you and the others, since I don’t know when they will be back. FRIDAY? Can you please get it ready?” He jogged down to his lab followed by an overly excited Peter. The kid was staring in awe as the engineer showed off his new inventions and ran in his arms when he gifted him a brand new spider suit. It really had nothing to do with the first versions he had made before, it was way better obviously, tho its design resembled the old ones. The man really payed attention to the slightest detail. Stark then handed him dozen of gadgets he had spent sleepless nights developing for the other heroes.

“And will you please give this to The Wasp? Even if I had to go, I wouldn’t give her myself. Hope isn’t the kind of person to person to like it when a Stark makes stuff for her I guess.” 

“You’re wrong, she likes you a lot.”

“Nah, not so sure. But I like her so, I’m allowed to gift her what I want.” He winked at the teenager. “Anyways, don’t know about ya, but I got some work to do kid. And I don’t want your hot aunt harassing me again because her protégé disappeared once again.” They both laughed at this, Peter a bit embarrassed when he left.

Tony slumped onto his couch, a glass of scotch in his right hand. He smiled hazily at the skyscrapers shining in the darkness. He was tired, exhausted, but he was happy. He was used to his life being an emotional rollercoaster and he had been worn out. He finally had a stable lifestyle, friends and family and he had cut all the toxic people out of his life.

Yet, he felt like something, or someone, was missing.

——————

He had slept for once.  
Okay, maybe two hours and a half in two days wasn’t enough but the genius really liked to toy with his new inventions until sunrise. It made night less....boring.  
_It also prevented the nightmares._ He had been leaning on his desk and focusing on a piece foreign metal Rocket had brought him for hours when his back started aching really bad. He stretched and moaned in pain. 

“FRIDAY? What time is it?”

“It’s 8:35 boss.”

“Oh, well.” I didn’t even notice. It’s coffee time.  
He got up slowly and exited his lab, a shiver running down his spine. He hated mornings. Tony Stark stared at the window next to the kitchen couter while the coffee was getting ready when his thoughts drifted to Alaska and his odd discovery. The possible magic. The Wizard. The meeting?

“Er, darling? Strange did not give an hour for the appointment did he? Or else I’m screwed.”

“He did not. However Doctor Strange is often away, he might as well not be in NYC during the entire day.”

“Yeah, sure, the man’s busy.” He drank the divine caffeinated beverage and ran a hand on his face. “Can you please notify him? Might as well pay a visit early in the morning to annoy the hell outta this snobbish man.” 

Tony hesitated for a while between going for his usual black businessman suit with red tie and tinted glasses or his casual outfit, an AC/DC t-shirt and black jeans with comfy sneakers or. He went for the former option, thinking he would appear more professional to the other man. He then went down to the garage where his most expensive cars where parked thinking he was better driving by himself than having to bear Happy’s suspicious gaze during the whole ride. Plus if he could show off, he was going to enjoy it.  
Only a few minutes later the billionaire parked in front of the ancient-looking building with its weirdly shaped window. The doors of the Sanctum flew wide open, once again.

“Hello Mr. Doctor, I heard you asked to see me. Didn’t know you had missed me that much.” He smirked as the Sorcerer greeted him, still wearing his fancy magician outfit.

“Believe me when I tell you I didn’t.” He led the smaller man to a large room full of books and both sat in opposed seats. The magical Cloak or whatever it was called flew around his master’s broad shoulders. Ah, the magic library.  
“Your AI. She did send me the coordinates and the data you gathered at each visit of the site as well as the visuals. But obviously this does not help me in any way to know what kind of _wavelength_ the waves are or the _composure_ of the particles you found there. I did try to ask FRIDAY more details about the effects it had on you, putting aside the whole “defective suit” part but she refused for whatever obscure reason. I need to know if you felt any different, if your health was affected in any ways by those..signals.” With a small wrist movement, the Sorcerer brought a pile of dusty books in their direction.  
Tony smirked.

“Well... I forgot everyone isn’t as brilliant as I am. Obviously you can’t analyse the data and understand its meaning.” Strange was flipping through one of the books and didn’t look up but he scoffed. “But if you desperately need to know, I did have a little headache but I’ll blame it on the stress. Obviously _particles_ can’t do much to me.”

“You don’t know about that.” The man with the cape raised an eyebrow, still focused on his reading.”

“Oh I do, believe me. I’m the genius here.” 

He suddenly looked up. “And I’m the snobbish man? Wow.”

“I never sai—“

“Your AI literally sent me a message, at 8:50 sharp, saying you _would pay me a visit early in the morning to annoy the hell out of the “snobbish man”_ I was.”

Tony groaned. _Damn it FRIDAY. You’ll pay for this._ “Okay, whatever, I’m allowed to have opinions on people, yeah?” He leaned back and pinched the edge of his nose. “So what now? Are you going to do anything to figure the problem out? Or all the info I gave you is not enough? Because in this case, I might as well do it myself.”

The genius frowned when the other man slid a ring on his shaking finger. He tried not to stare too intensely at the scarred hands but damn, he had so many questions. Suddenly, Stephen Strange stood up and started drawing a circle with his fingers and Tony immediately recognized those portals the wizard was able to make which had pretty much saved them all back on Titan.

“It’s not like you can. If I recall, you asked for my help.” He spoke up with his deep and velvety voice. The other side of the portal showed the frozen landscape of Alaska. “I’m going to make sure you’re just delusional and then I’ll come back to the Sanctum and you will stop. harassing. me.”

“I’m not haras—wait, you’re going alone? Hell nah! It primarily concerns me out of all people! Let me come with you.”

The Sorcerer shook his head. “Mmh... sorry, no can do.”

“Well in this case I’ll take the Iron Man suit and fly all the way to Alaska to come bother you, idiot.” Strange rolled his eyes and exhaled sharply.

“Fine, it’s not like there’s much to do there.”

“Great.” The smaller man walked in front of him through the portal, bumping his shoulder on the way (well, the arm, because Strange was way taller. Tony ignored it.) and tapped on his arc reactor, allowing his brand new Mark 59— _the fancy name being Mark S, a mix between his traditional ones and the blending edge armors_ — to spread all over his body. “Let’s get this over with.”

_Annoying, annoying, annoying. Why of all people is he the only one able to help me out?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO i have no idea how it happened but it seems I posted this chapter twice. My bad, I’m sorry if anyone got excited but then realized it was just the same chapter. I’m an idiot. But hey, chapter 3 is posted!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Stephen are not duo material but the Gardians are good bros

As soon as Stephen Strange walked through his portal, he was welcomed with a piercing wind sending a shiver down his spine. Nothing he couldn’t handle.   
He looked around.   
The landscape, aside from being, well...cold, was an astonishing mix of frozen plains and snowy pine forest spreading all over the mountains slopes. The Sorcerer stared in awe for quite a while. He really enjoyed the serenity of the place, it reminded him of Kamar-Taj.  
He then laid his eyes on the smaller man standing next to him, helmet off, groaning as he tried to make his suit’s projected map function. He seemed pissed, obviously but Strange also discerned something more complex in his gaze, like...determination. Was uncovering foreign signals that important to him? Or was it more personal? Because even tho the Sorcerer had agreed on helping the hero out, he still wondered Tony’s reasons to seek his help especially if he despised him so much. He shrugged internally and the Cloak of Levitation tightened around his collar.

“The energy surge seems to be emanating from this deserted town over there, I think we should have a look.” He exhaled and his breathe formed a white cloud of steam before blending with the ambiant air. Strange nodded.

Both men walked in silence toward the ghost village Stark had noticed during his previous visit. He could just fly there and Strange could just portal himself but it felt right not to disturb the tranquility of the place and as they walked in a slow pace, the Sorcerer found himself staring at the genius several time. He couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that he was standing next to him, alive and in the flesh. Because when 9 months ago he had experienced all possible outcomes of their fight with Thanos, 14 000 605 was the exact number, he had witnessed the sacrifices of Tony Stark over and over. In almost every reality, when there was no other solution, the man would willingly die so the others could leave. He had died for Peter, for Pepper, for pretty much every Avengers and even the Rogues. It truly had changed Stephen’s opinion on him, though he wouldn’t admit it. Because the man had embraced his fate, the one he had never wanted but always knew he would get.  
So yes, Tony stood at his side and only Strange knew he was way more than just a hero.

“Hey Strange Doctor, so what have you been up to seen the last time we’ve seen each other?” He broke the silence.

He huffed. “You talk like I can’t properly function without you around.”

“Well—“ he cocked his head to the side.

“ _Well_ if you’re genuinely interested, then you’ll be glad to know I was busy fighting inter-dimensional threats and saving your reality.” Strange responded before Tony could say anything stupid.

“Life as Harry Potter must be boring as fuck. What about friends, parties? Where’s the fun when it’s all about duty, saving the world, being outrageously righteous yada yada?” And there he was, back with the hand gestures.

“You’re a hero too, I thought you’d understand. Aren’t you the busiest man alive anyways?”

“I’ll let you know I can perfectly manage Stark Industry, the Iron Man and my personal life at the same time. So obviously fun is included”

 _I kinda doubt that._ Strange eyed at the dark circles under his eyes and his constant worn-out look.  
“What about this?” The Sorcerer gestured at their surrounding. “Is this fun to you?”

“I actually take this seriously since anything able to take down my technology is a serious matter. But I get to annoy a wizard so yeah, I guess.”

“So mature of you. But since you so kindly asked, I guess I have to ask you as well. What have you been up to?”

He seemed confused for a slight second and then shook his head. “Not much. SI business, visiting friends, babysitting Peter. Oh and eventually saving the world from threats, well, belonging to our dimension.” He turned to look at the taller man. “Hey we kinda complete each other, don’t you think?”

“Don’t say that.”

“I mean c’mon, you’re protecting Earth from outside threats and I do my part with inside threats!”

“We might but we’re not _completing_ each other in any way.”

He groaned. “You’re no fun. I’m telling you soon enough you’ll see how much of an amazing duo we make.” He grinned at Strange who cringed at the thought. He didn’t respond to that and rather stopped walking to look around.   
Small houses were shattered all over the valley and were almost unnoticeable because of the amount of snow piled up at their top. The win engulfed in the holes than used to be door frames and windows and made the wood creak singularly. The place really was abandoned.

“So Wizard.” The so called ‘wizard’ rolled his eyes at the nickname which seemed to stick around. “Now you do your thing. Help me out a little bit and tell me what’s so fucking wrong with this creepy place that it makes my compass go crazy.”

“Fine. I’ll just ask you not to disturb me while I do so.”

“Disturb you? Ho—“ Tony held back a gasp as the Sorcerer started levitating, cross-legged and eyes shut. A green aura seemed to emanate from the Eye of Agamotto—the pendant containing the infinity stone he had swore an oath to protect with his life but that he had given up for Tony’s life months ago.   
The engineer immediately remembered it, a sort of meditation Strange had done back on Titan but this time his face didn’t seem to be shifting in every position possible. He remained calm and steady, his body hovered a few inches from the frozen ground. 

“Great. And now I gotta wait. Hey, if all you’re going to do is your morning yoga I might as well get going because I‘m freezing, Wizard.” The other obviously didn’t answer and Tony sighed. Right, he was supposed to keep an eye on him or whatever.

Two hours had passed and the Sorcerer Supreme was still focused on his meditation.  
Iron man had walked several time around the ghost town and had tried to figure out what was so wrong with it but it was all in vain : nothing caught his eyes if not the pureness of the landscape and the utter silence that reigned.  
He went back to Stephen and sat on a bench covered in snow to stare at the man. He hadn’t changed since the first time they had met, his hair was still the same salt and pepper mass of slicked up curls, his robes still impeccable. Oh, and his cheekbones? The same as ever, sharper than a razor’s blade. It’s was like the man wouldn’t age. Tony would definitely have to ask him what kind a dark magic skin care he used to maintain his face flawless. _Did he just think the man looked flawless?_  
He shuddered as show started falling down around them. He was cold and the Sorcerer had to be too. Unfortunately he didn’t have a heated armor at disposal like Tony did, tho his Cloak seemed to keep him rather warm.  
He then wondered how it felt like to live in the Sanctum. The building was huge, old, empty, and his only company was the Cloak’s, and eventually Wong’s when the man was around. After they had brought everyone back from the snap and Tony’s life was, well... ruined, he had had lot of time to spare and had spent most of it inquiring about Strange. The man had saved his life after all. It appeared he hadn’t always been a wizard : he actually had been a really famous neurosurgeon for a few years. It said the man was loaded and owned several cars worth more than most people would make in a lifetime, but he had lost his job after a car accident. _How ironic._  
Unfortunately Stark hadn’t been able to find out more about the topic. That’s why he had always planned to ask the man more about his past for the simple reason that Tony was dying to know more about him, about a rich, egoistical man of science who turned into a magician wearing robes.  
But he didn’t know how to ask.

He sighed and turned his gaze to the sky, allowing snow flakes to get stuck in his long eyelashes. After all, Stephen Strange kinda reminded him of himself. They had the same personality, and had a taste in luxury. But both had decided at some point to turn their life around after an accident, tho Stark still owned a dozen of cars and was now richer than he had ever been, and would never want to live in an old, dusty, magical building.  
But it was clear that Strange had found a purpose to his life. He had sworn to protect their reality, the time stone, fight demons, that kind of stuff. While Tony, well, he was lost.   
After the Infinity war, like the Gardians loved to call it, he had thought to stop being the Iron Man. He was exhausted of the fighting, and most importantly, traumatized. Thanos had been a nightmare coming to reality. But like Peter said it so well, with great power comes great responsibility. He wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night knowing innocent people could be saved everyday and he had the power to help but hadn’t had. So he had not totally gave up, but with the Avengers no longer being a team, he had decided to play it solo.  
He thought he at least had his friends there for him. But Then Pepper decided to end things between them, and he felt lost.

_But I’m there._

Wait, who said that? Definitely not Tony. It was a voice clear as cristal. He jumped on his feet and looked around, confused as of where the voice had come from. He was only greeted with a growing blizzard. 

“What the heck? I didn’t drink that much yesterday did I?” _Am I hearing voices now? Wow._

“Hey Wizard,” he leaned to face the younger man. “Grab your fancy stuff and let’s fuck out of here, I swear if the mercury drops lower than fifteen I’ll—“

The Sorcerer chose this moment to snap out of his meditation. His eyes opened wide and he fell back on the ground, only to be caught right away by the Iron Man. Tony steadied him on his feet, a hand still resting on the man’s shoulder. His hands were shaking, way more violently than usual. The Cloak immediately protected his face from the freezing wind.

“Jeez you’re finally back with the livings! You okay there?”

Strange waved him off and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, yes, everything is fine I just...” He inhaled sharply, gaze unfocused. “...found out something important.”

“You’re not gonna tell me about it?” Stark asked, confused as the man grabbed his sling ring and began to conjure a portal. “Hey!”

“I have to summon Wong right now, I don’t have the time for a chat, Stark.” He stepped through the sparkling amber circle.

“Is it that big of a dea—oh great.” Tony didn’t even finish his sentence when the remaining sparks fell on the snow and disappeared immediately.   
“Really, he couldn’t even portal me to the Tower or just let me come with him. Typical.” He huffed. “I hate this man.”

He was about to turn on his thrusters when his attention drifted to the hold houses almost invisible in the snow storm.

_Don’t go._

He shivered as his panic rose at the voice. He needed to get out of here. This place was driving him nuts.

_______________

“Really, my friends, Misgardian cuisine will never stop to amaze me! Every time I visit it gets better.” The God exclaimed before taking another bite of his cheeseburger. 

“Aren’t you, like, supposed to be on a _diet_ , Thor?” Rocket looked up from the gun he was polishing. “Tho I think you can keep on the self-destructive behavior, Quill was starting to worry over there.” He pointed at the smaller man who was enjoying his fifth tacos.

“Hey, not true!”

“Do not worry the slightest for my health, my friend, one or two days of training and I’m as fit as you’ll never be!”

“AH AH!” Drax crackled loudly, thumping the table. “Yes, Thor will always be more muscular than you Quill, no matter how much he eats!” 

“That makes no sense. Also, that’s utterly unfair!” the offended StarLord replied. “How come he eats like six but still has those abs ? I would die to see Thor _fat_ one day.”

“I smell jealousy here.” Carol smirked and Quill huffed. 

“Yeah Thor, I have to agree with Rocket on this one. It seems like you’ve been skipping physical activities since you joined the Guardians. Aren’t you supposed to visit Bruce tomorrow? You wouldn’t _want him_ to think that, do you?” Brunnhilde added as she grabbed another beer. 

The other Asgardian grumbled. “Why do you all have to always comment on my looks? I know I’m handsome, no denying, but it’s—“

“He’s not, definitely not.” Quill cut in. 

“So tell us...” Carol leaned forwards and stared right into his eyes. “..what’s your definition of a handsome man?” It was no secret Quill wasn’t only interested in the opposite gender and had standards. Actually it had turned out most of aliens were not so “straight” in general. It was a human concept they had a hard time understanding. In space, love was love, and when the Gardians had been asked about their sexual orientation at some point in a conversation they just ended up confused. “Aside from you” she added.

“I don’t know man, I was about to say myself! But I guess Stark is fine.” 

“Stark? As in Tony Stark?” Rocket chuckled. “I mean yeah, I’ll give you that, he’s rather good-looking but I had no idea he was... your kind of guy” he whispered that last part. Quill flushed red. “You asked me, now don’t make fun of it. We all know he’s handsome.”

“Yeah.”

“Yep, he’s nice.”

“I’m definitely not into guys but I have to admit you’re right.”

“I agree. Too bad he was not with us today.”

“Oh my god y’all are so weird. I shouldn’t have made that statement. What is this all-nighter turning into, huh?“

Aaaand Stark chose this moment to enter the room. The metallic doors of the Tower slid open, revealing the brunette in a black turtleneck. By the look on his face, he was definitely surprised to find the Gardians, the Asgardians and Captain Danvers sitting around his kitchen island.

“What—“

“Well hello Anthony! You come right on time! We were all discussing how good looking you were!” The god of thunder stood up to hug the shorter man who was immediately crushed in the strong embrace.

“Thor stop, you’re killing him.” Valkyrie intervened, separating the two men. “Stark, we thought you’d never join us!”

Tony looked around, confused. “FRIDAY you didn’t yell me we were expecting guests.”

“I thought it would be a nice surprise. I ordered the food for them, I hope you won’t mind.” As sweet as always. 

“Okay, but I’m confused as of why you’re here, in my kitchen. Weren’t you supposed to have lunch with the rest of the team at the compound this afternoon? Not that it’s not a pleasant surprise.” He grabbed the bottle Carol handed him.

“Yeah well, we did, but then it got late and the Spider Kid, Rhodey and the others went home or to sleep.” She answered him. 

“Fragile creatures.” Drax commented. 

“And it got kinda boring at their place so we decided to move to yours for a surprise, guess it was a good idea because your girl?” Rocket pointed at the ceiling, obviously talking about FRIDAY “She’s a cutie.”

“Damn right she is.” He sat down next to them. After what had happened in Alaska he definitely needed company. Things didn’t go as planned and the Sorcerer had left him alone in a blizzard without explanations regarding the matter that had come to fix in the first place. It had pissed him off, though he was also worried for Strange who had seemed rather odd when he left. Plus Tony had wanted to spend time with his best people. He was very fond of Rocket, who he had met after Cadol had brought him back to Earth. He had grown very close to the Gardians after Titans and they were always welcome at his house. “But where are Nebula and Mantis?”

“Yeah Neb stayed with Rhodey. I have no damn clue what they were chatting about all day long but it seemed intense. He’s like her uncle or something. And Mantis? Oh man, she’s been talking to your funky robots for hours. They seem to get along pretty well.” Rocket sighed. FRIDAY notified the billionaire that she was in one of the meeting rooms with Dum-E.

“What about you Stark? The kid said you couldn’t make it to lunch earlier, and when you finally come home it’s...” Quill looked down at the holographic clock on the oven, still unsure of the duration of a day on Terra. “...2 in the morning.” 

“God you’d never guess. I was with Strange.”

“ _The Magic Man with the Blanket of Death?_ ” Drax asked.

“Yeah, _that_ dude. I need his knowledge of magic and we basically were supposed to work together today, but here me out : the asshole went full Ace Ventura meditation for two hours straight and then shut me off when I asked for his survey. He used his sparkly portal to head safely back at his fancy place and left me hanging there like a fucking idiot. Oh and then, I went to visit some poor kids at an hospital in need of prosthetics. They were really sweet, but the whole thing exhausted me. So here I am, ready to get wasted.”

“I’ll drink to that” Brunnhilde grabbed a dozen beers from the fridge as Quill opened a new box of pizza.  
Tony smiled as he reached for a slice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAVE MERCY, I WROTE THIS AT 2AM! My english is getting worse by the day, I’ll probably end up writing the whole thing in french since it's the only language I seem to be able to speak properly


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been quite a while lol. Sorry I was busy partying and crying over people who don’t deserve it. The end of the school year is always emotional, and I’m sad I won’t get to see most of my friends anymore. I hope this slightly longer (but still horribly-written) chapter will help you guys forgive me.

Strange was waiting on a chair, like he had been for the past two hours. As soon as he left Alaska, he contacted Wong to inform him of his discovery. However the other Sorcerer was busy fighting a threatening being in another dimension and just didn’t have time for Strange’s rambling, his words.  
So Stephen placed his head between his hands and sighed heavily as the Cloak tightened around his shoulders in a concerned kind of way. His mind soon drifted to his encounter with Stark and how he had left him all alone in the freezing village without giving him any explanation. Even though he knew the man could head home easily with his suit, he would probably be mad at him. Guess he would have to apologize, as much as he hated it.  
The Sorcerer Supreme glanced up when orange sparks formed in front of him and fell on the floor of the Sanctum Sanctorum, soon followed by a rather annoyed Wong stepping out of the portal. 

“Ah, finally.” Strange got up promptly to face the man. He noticed a few cuts and bruises on his face. “Rough battle?”

“Not that much, but they wouldn’t surrender. So now that I’m done, mind telling me what’s the matter?”

The taller man ran a hand through his still damp hair. “It’s complicated and I need your expertise on this one.” He rolled his eyes when Wong smirked. “There’s a place in the Alaskan mountains from which an energy I thought was unknown emanates.”

“But I was able to identify its true nature just earlier. It’s energy from what I think is the Lost Dimension.”

Wong frowned, taken aback by the statement. “The Lost Dimension? Are you sure? We hardly know about it, you might have mistaken the energy for something else, Stephen.”

“I’m pretty sure of it. It’s not the Fear Dimension, not the Dark Dimension and certainly not the Soul Dimension. It’s something totally different.”

“If you’re sure of what you say then this can not be good. How is it possibly detectable in our dimension?.”

“There has to be... a sort of breach. But it shouldn’t even be possible.” Wong scratched his shaved head before replying. “I’ll go do some digging into the books of Kamar Taj, but I can’t guarantee I’ll find much. The Ancient one almost never mentioned it as this dimension is supposed to be...”

“A dead one.” Stephen responded, still having a hard time dealing with the info he had gathered. From what he knew, the Lost Dimension was a world of desolation, absolutely empty of any living creature. It was a parallel dimension, a mirror one to their own so any activity or energy surge causing the breach should be impossible. “So what are we going to do about it? Should we warn the other Masters of London and Hong Kong?”

“I’ll take care of it. But as of now, we have more important problems to deal with, you didn’t mention it to be dangerous, did you?”

The Sorcerer frowned. “...no, aside from the whole electromagnetic effect it has on technology, nothing noticeable.”

“Great, then we shall deal with it later, but please keep an eye on it. I’ll do my part with the researches, do yours with the protecting okay? I still have to deal with the Shadows Entities, we couldn’t stop them all today.” The man used his sling ring to open another portal at the exact same place the one he had used to come in had been. Strange seemed skeptical about his answer. “What is it Stephen?”

“I.. It’s just.. You say I should just make sure no one goes there until we find a solution ?”

“Yes, is there a problem with that? You said the breach was located in the Alaskan Mountains, don’t know much about this part of America but I sure know there aren’t a bunch of people living at that place.” Wong stated, yet Stephen looked hesitant.  
“Is anyone else aware?”

“...Yeah. Someone actually informed me of the effect that interdimensional breach had on their technology. That’s how I found out about it.”

“And who’s that someone?” The shorter man asked, visibly annoyed by his friend’s doubt. Strange sighed. “Stark.”

“Stark? As in Tony Stark, the Iron Man?”

“Yep.” Wong raised an eyebrow. If anyone on Earth were to detect this kind of signals it had to be the genius. Though, the sorcerer could hardly picture him asking Strange for any kind of help. After a moment a reflection, he stepped through the portal.

“Well, Stark’s a man of trust, you can tell him about it. Just make sure he won’t come back there, could still be dangerous.” And he was gone.

Stephen swallowed before gesturing for his Cloak to fly away from his shoulders. Wong didn’t seem to understand the matter. There was no way on Earth he was going to tell Stark about the Lost Dimension and the fact that there was a breach on their planet. Because the man would make such a fuss about it. ~~Because Strange knew he was terrified of magic.~~ He would have to lie to the genius which in itself was a hard thing to do and he didn’t want at all to do such things when Stark had come by himself to seek for his help. But he guessed there was no other way.

______________

“Nah man, it was all fine. We stayed up all nigh and got drunk. Well most of us since it seems like alcohol has literally no effect on the two girls. You know what Rocket asked me? A metal arm, like Barnes’, but when I told him it was a remplacement for a missing limb, he told me he would ‘take care of it and be ready next time he’ll come by’. I believe he’s stupid enough to get his own arm cut off.” Tony took a sip of his coffee and turned back to the new arc reactor he was working on, accident knocking the cup off on the table. “Shit!” He exclaimed.

“Tones? Everything okay?” Rhodey asked and his voice resonated in the genuis’ workshop as he was put on speaker by FRIDAY.

“Yep, don’t worry, just spilled coffee on damn desk. Fuck. Gotta clean now.”

“Sometimes I wonder why you don’t have a robot for that.” Tony could hear the man sigh. “And sometimes I wonder why I haven’t designed a coffee machine that would be...grafted to my body. Yeah, great idea!” He wiped his desk with an old tissue.

“Please don’t do that. Anyways, I gotta go Tony, be there at the next meeting, I know you’ve been busy lately but we miss you. Oh and please, get some sleep.”

Stark glanced up for a while, unsure of how genuine the comment was. “Yeah sure, will do my best. Bye Mother Hen, remind me to set you up for a date with Carol!” And like that, the call ended.  
Tony stood up to give Dum-E the dirty tissue when his gaze was caught by his own reflection in one of glass display exposing his latest suit. He looked terrible. Dark circle framed his tired eyes, his skin was dry, his hair wasn’t styled and cascaded as a mass of curls on his forehead. He pinched the edge of his nose and sighed.  
Despite being surrounded by everything and everyone he loved, Tony still felt like something was missing to his life. He had gotten over Pepper so what could it be? They were no longer in danger, so why was he waking up every night, frightened, sweating and gasping for air, scared to go back to sleep and have another nightmare?

“Boss, I am informing you that Dr. Strange has requested photos of your workshop.”

“W..what?” Tony turned around to focus on the voice but his vision blurred, probably caused by the lack of sleep, and the floor suddenly grew noticeably closer. He held on to his desk and exhaled sharply. 

“Boss, your vitals are low. You need to eat, your last full meal 3 days ago with the Gardians and you only slept 6 hours in the last..”

“Spare me the lecture Fri, I know I’m...” He covered his face with his hand and tried to steady himself. “whatever, could you make me a new cup of coffee please, darling?” The engineer finally sat back in front of his work and held his throbbing head in is hands. He felt miserable. _Maybe she’s right and I should take a break. But I’m not done het with the arc reactor and I need it fixed asap._

“This is not what I would recommend, but sure. So should I accept Mr. Strange’s request?” The female voice spoke once again, causing Tony’s ears to ring painfully.

“Uh..” He had no idea what she could be referring to as he hadn’t payed attention to her previous words. “..s-sure, why not?” _Wait, hold on, she talked about Strange? Why would he need photos of my—_

“Stark.” Tony almost fell off his chair at the deep voice. He turned around he was greeted by the Sorcerer stepping out of a portal... in his workshop? _What the fuck?_ The man was wearing a casual outfit, a wine-red cardigan, a pair of dark trousers and (really expensive) black shoes. He also wore a pair of black fingerless gloves.

“Warn a guy! I almost had a heart attack!” The genius held a hand to his heart, acting shocked. 

“Well, shit. Too bad.” The taller man rolled his eyes.

“Hey..this is mean? You don’t wish death on a man with heart problems, thank you very much.” He spat, already annoyed by the Wizard’s presence, especially in his personal space. “What are you doing here? And how did you get in here?”

“You seem to forget I can portal anywhere on this planet and in this universe as long as I can picture a location. You’re not that smart, apparently.”

“W-is that why you asked for photos of my lab?”

“I had no idea his intentions were to break into the Tower Boss, I wouldn’t have allowed it if I had known.” Strange looked up at the ceiling.

“It’s fine Fri,” He turned to face the other man. “Listen _fancy_ wizard, I don’t know about you but I personally am really busy right now so if you don’t mind..” Tony pointed at the door. “Get out.”

“Stark we need to talk.”

“Oh yeah? Last time I tried to talk with you, you flew to god knows where and left me all alone in a ghost village lost in the middle of Alaska. Bitch please.” He responded, visibly annoyed. When Strange didn’t move and stared at him with the same, judging glare, he sighed and sat back at his desk. “Listen, I’m busy okay? I’m a mess right now, come by later when you’re _actually invited. _”__

__“Oh I don’t mind.” Stephen glanced down at the man whose hair was curled and messy. It looked cute. But the genius also looked exhausted and for whatever obscure reason, was still working at 11pm._ _

__“So what is it Strange? I bet you didn’t come here to say hi.”_ _

__“How fancy of you to say that.” Tony scoffed as the Sorcerer referred to that time the genius had come seeking for his help. “No actually, I came here to apologize for what happened.”_ _

__The engineer made a high pitched noise as he tried to hold back a laugh, in vain.  
“W-who are you and what have you done to the Douchebag Doctor from Bleecker street?!” The man in question rolled is eyes once again._ _

__“I just came to tell you that... I’m sorry for leaving you there and not giving you any explanation. I had just found out something really important and was too focused on it to give you any attention. But you’re the one who showed me this place so, I shouldn’t have. Like you said before we came, this mainly concerns you.”_ _

__Tony considered the apology for a while before speaking up. “Sure, okay, it’s fine. I tend to forget people too when I’m working on a project. But are you gonna tell me what it was you discovered or do I have to beg for it?”_ _

__Stephen raised an eyebrow. “Well-“_ _

__“-nevermind, don’t answer that, just tell me for God’s sake.”_ _

__“It was actually no big deal, I mistook the energy for something else, something way more dangerous than it was. But Wong gave me his expertise on the matter and turns out the signals you detected are just residues of a powerful spell cast by one of ours during a fight that occurred a while ago. We’ll work on making them go away as it could be detected by the government but you shouldn’t worry much, as I said it’s just traces of magic that are stable and unthreatening.” And there it was, all pretty and wrapped up, a beautiful lie to Mr. Stark from Stephen Strange. The man trusted him and Strange felt terrible._ _

__“...Oh, so you’re telling me one of your karate kids went berserk in the snow mountains?”_ _

__“Yeah, you could sum it up like that.”_ _

__“So... you don’t need me anymore, everything is fixed?” Stark leaned backwards on his stool, elbows resting on his desk._ _

__“Yes, everything is under control Stark. I can’t tell you precisely when we’ll be able to get rid of the magic left in Alaska but at least you know it’s nothing dangerous.”_ _

__The genius’ eyelids dropped and he let out a sigh. _Of relief. He was relieved they were safe when they were not and Strange wished Christine was here to strangle him and tell him how much of an idiot he was._ “Great, that’s... actually amazing. I was worried for a moment, especially when you woke up all shaking ‘n stuff.” Stark opened his eyes and glanced up at the taller man whose attention was drawn by literally every single thing in his workshop. He then realized Strange had never been down there, he actually he never been further than the hall of the Tower. Speaking about Strange, well, Tony had to admit “normal” clothing looked good on him. He was rather broad and fit and jeans suited him well. The doctor’s gaze turned to Dum-E and Stark stared at the sharp jawline and cheekbones lit up by the dim lights of the large, cold room._ _

__“Anyways, that’s all I came to tell you. This is where we part ways.” The statement made the engineer break out of his reverie._ _

__“Oh Doctor, really?” Strange raised an eyebrow as Tony’s face turned inti a sad pout. “This is making my heart break, I thought you’d at least want to spend more time in my company.”_ _

__“I don’t think I will, no.” Stark rolled his eyes at the cold reply. “See, you’re really no fun. But fine, are you at least going to use the door to leave?” The man was half-way standing up when he felt his whole body shiver and his vision getting blurry. He tried to hold on to his desk he realized too late it was behind him. The ringing in his ears was back before he could even realize he had stumbled right into Strange’s arms. _Strange’s arms?__ _

__“You okay Stark?”_ _

__Tony tried to steady himself but only managed to lean even more heavily against the other man, his hands placed against his chest. “I-I..sorry I...” He blinked a few times but was unable to focus his gaze on anything. Stark tried to push himself out of the embrace even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand on his own. Strange led him back to his stool._ _

__“When was the last time you ate?”_ _

__“H-How..how is this any of your business?”_ _

__“I was a doctor. Well not that kind of doctor, but I can still tell when someone’s neglecting themselves.”_ _

__Tony covered his watery eyes with his shaking palm. “I’m fine.”_ _

__“Boss last ate three days ago and only drank black coffee since. Last time he slept was four days ago for about 5 hours.”_ _

__“Fri! Snitches get stitches!”_ _

__“You would never, Boss.” Strange looked up at the ceiling, intrigued by the AI’s intervention but also alerted by her comment. _Stark hadn’t slept for four days?_ _ _

__“Yeah you’re right.” He turned to face the younger man. “You’re happy Wizard, got to see me at my weakest? Sorry, but I got work to do, as I mentioned earlier, so if you could just...” He gestured for the man to leave. “.. would be nice.”_ _

__The Sorcerer stepped back. The man was famous for his self-destructive behavior but this...this was something entirely else. “I’m not taking any pleasure in seeing you killing yourself, believe it or not. But fine, I’ll go.” Gosh, he wanted so bad to yell at the man and tell him to get some sleep but he was definitely not close enough to ever do so. He thought about forcing him to sleep using a spell but he quickly changed his as he remembered how frightened Stark was of magic. He instead turned around and opened a new portal. Before it closed, he glanced back at the smaller man whose eyes were half-shut and hands still shaking. _Idiot_ , he thought before flicking his wrist.  
The lights of the workshop immediately dimmed without Stark noticing it. He only looked up to his own reflection in one of the mirrors and realized the Sorcerer was gone._ _

___He turned back to the new arc reactor he had been building before Strange had decided to show up. Well, at least he now knew they weren’t actually in danger, but the idea of any magic user ever using the kind of magic he’d found in Alaska against him was unbearable. If anyone could shut down the suit’s power source they would be able to incapacitate the Iron Man and Tony would be useless. He had to make a new one._  
He was glad the arc reactor wasn’t a part of him anymore because he honestly had many, many memories of it being ripped out and destroyed by the people he loved.  
Before he even realized it, the darkness of the room had Tony asleep on his stool. 

___________________ _

___Steve Rogers woke up early for his morning run at around 6am. He got off his bed and slipped on a pair of gray sweatpants and his favorite Captain America T-shirt, a blue one with his shield in the middle. He silently made his way to the small kitchen of his apartment, grabbing the newspaper at his door._  
He wanted to believe he was living a normal life in a normal house. He wished it was the case. But the twelves super-trained soldiers positioned around the building and at his doorstep couldn’t be ignored that easily. Life under house arrest was far from what he had imagined but he couldn’t quite explain why. The thing was he hadn’t expected such an humble abode for a man who had helped against Thanos. Steve had hoped his behavior during the Civil War had been forgotten, forgiven, as well as his two years of running and hiding from the authorities.  
Little did he know that as soon as the Universe was saved, things had went back to normal for most of the population and the UN didn’t let go of him. Sam and Natasha were both under house arrest as well as Clint, but the father had been allowed to visit his family from times to times. Steve believed Laura had forgiven her ex-husband and he wished Tony could do the same for him. The three ex-avengers would often meet under tight supervision but the war veteran had had no updates on his best friend nor Wanda and Lang.  
Scott had been allowed back to the compound as the UN came to the conclusion he wasn’t fully aware and had fought for something greater than himself.  
The Scarlet Witch was nowhere to be seen as she had joined Dr. Strange super secret magic club to be trained. Clint’s words. And as to Bucky...  
Steve froze when he entered the kitchen. The brunette was sitting at his table, a cup of coffee in his hands. 

__“Buck! What...what are you doing here? How did you get in?”_ _

__Barnes set the cul down and glanced up at his best friend. “Hi Steve.”_ _

__The blonde soldier frowned, surprised Bucky hadn’t used his nickname ‘Stevie’. He always did. Steve took a moment to consider is friend. He looked...nice. He was wearing a denim jacket over a grey oversized hoodie, his beard was trimmed and his hair was tied in a bun. “Did you.. did you do something to the soldiers out here? How did you...”_ _

__“Relax Steve, you seem to forget I no longer am a fugitive. I was allowed in here.”_ _

___Oh._ “I see. It’s.. it has been so long Buck, I.. I missed you.” Bucky stood up to pull the man into a tight hug. “So did I Punk.”_ _

__“How have things been going on with your therapy?”_ _

__“It’s.. great. Better than anything I had imagined. These past months have been really refreshing. How about you? How is life as a normal citizen?”_ _

__“Oh, well, you get used to it. I’m just so pissed they think all this security his necessary tho.” He gestured at the door. “I’m being watched 24/7. Whenever I go out. It’s not like I was a terrorist or something! I still am Captain America after all!”_ _

__“Steve you have to understand...”_ _

__“I know, I know. I broke some laws.” _Some laws? Bucky scoffed internally._ “But anyways, I’m glad you’re back now. Will you go visit Nat and Sam with me?”_ _

__The brunette looked down and sighed “Actually, I already did. You’re the last one I came to see. Steve, I meant to tell you something important, to me at least.”_ _

__Steve pulled back, confused. “Yeah, sure, what is it?_ _

__“I’m joining the Avengers, Steve.”_ _

__“W-what? How? Is Tony aware of it? Aren’t you scared he’ll-“_ _

__“Tony won’t do anything. Actually, he’s the one who suggested it.” The both sat down at the table. “You have to understand that despite everything I’ve done to this man, everything I put him through, he has done nothing but help me all this time. He...he got me out of all this mess, allowed me therapy, housed me... and I never got to talk to him in person! I’m still trying to figure out why he would do all of this considering I’ve...”_ _

__“You’ve done nothing, Buck, absolutely nothing wrong.” Steve put his hands over his best friend’s. The sergeant looked down and sighed._ _

__“And Steve, that’s where you’re wrong. And that’s why I... why I didn’t write you all this time. I didn’t know what to tell you. I’ll always be grateful for everything you’ve done for me but you need to realize I’m not innocent. Far from it. I broke the law as soon as I followed you, back during the Civil War. And I might have not been in control of my mind, I might have been the Winter Solider once, but his actions, the people he hurt and the blood he spilled are on my hands. You can’t deny that.”_ _

__“You know I’ll always think differently Buck. And... joining the Avengers? I wish I was there with you. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”_ _

__“I perfectly know what they will and won’t do to me Steve. They’re nice people. I met most of them in Wakanda anyway, stop being so worried about me for a damn second.”_ _

__Steve removed his hands and glanced at the window. “I don’t know Bucky. This doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. You shouldn’t-“_ _

__“You don’t get to decide for me anymore, I’m sorry punk. I’ve thought this through and I’ve made up my mind. Stark is giving me a second chance at redemption and I will take it.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. His friend grabbed his forearm._ _

__“Don’t trust him.”_ _

__“What?”_ _

__“Tony. He... he’s a great man but.. he doesn’t always make the right choices.”_ _

__Barnes frowned. “Are you being serious right now? Did you listen to a word I just said?”_ _

__“I want what’s best for you.”_ _

__The brunette considered Steve for a while before biting his lower lip in annoyance and disappointment. “Clearly you don’t. Clearly, you don’t give a single about anything I told you. All you want is to have me by your side.” It was his turn to stare at the window. “I don’t know Steve, I don’t know what else I can do for you. You claim to only want my happiness but it seems like yours matters the most. I’m sorry I...”_ _

__Bucky ran a through his hair and turned back to his friend. “I can’t do this anymore.” He walked to the front door. “If you ever need me, I’m only a phone call away. Goodbye Steve.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like including a little bit of Steve & Bucky. I think next chapter will explain their battle against Thanos, basically my version of Endgame in which no one dies except for the purple grape.  
> Anyways, Endgame is coming back in theaters and my broke ass is totally going to spend my last savings watching it again. Only for a few minutes of russo cameo or dabbing Hulk, god knows.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small chapter after along pause. Ahah oops. But hey, I’ve got the next one almost ready and it’s a bit of ironstrange hurt/comfort so hm yeah. Also the recap of endgame I made here is like super quick and all but I really didn’t feel like writing the whole thing.

“We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here.”

“Flash Gordon? By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human. So that 50% of me that's stupid? That's 100% you.

“Your math is blowing my mind.”

“Excuse me, but... does your friend often...do that?”

“Strange! We alright?”  
________________

_There was an infinity of outcomes, an infinity of possibilities. In one universe, Stephen Strange had seen 14,000,605 of them. In another, he sees 14,000,605 different ones._

He snapped out of his trance, falling to the grown as Stark rushed toward him. “You're back. You're alright.“ The brunette grabbed his forearm to steady him.  
The kid, Strange doesn’t remember his name—Pierce, Peter?— joins his mentor. 

“Hey, what was that?”

The Sorcerer pants, his lashes fluttering. “I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

The man that calls himself the StarLord speaks up. “How many did you see?”

“14,000,605.” 

“How many did we win?”

He looks up at the orange sky before staring confidently at the man.

“One.”

_______________

Thanos was definitely not the only one cursed with knowledge. Stephen knew that they would fail to remove the gauntlet from the man titan, he knew that they would fail to stop him and that he would collect all the stones. He tried anyways. But when the alien girl disintegrated into ashes, followed by her friend, he couldn’t help it but wince. He had seen this scenario play over and over in his head, but in every futures, one man would always survive. Stark.

“Steady, Quill.”

“Aw, man.” And he was gone.

Tony turned to him and Stephen stared back. He felt awful for putting the man through all this pain. He knew he would get it all back, but it just hurt to see the fear in his amber eyes. He knew something would break in the hero’s heart when the kid would vanish. 

“I’m sorry Tony, there was no other way.”

Weeks later, when he thought all hope was lost, Tony was rescued by Carol Danvers and brought back to Earth. The survivors were Thor, Rhodey, Natasha, Bruce, Clint, Pepper, Wong, James Barnes and a talking raccoon named Rocket.  
He was had just woken up in his bed, wired to all types of machines, when Bruce announced him they had killed Thanos. The mad titan was processing to destroy the stones when they barged in, and they could only retrieve the two remaining ones : the power stone and the soul stone. He said Thor “had gone for the head”. But now the other infinity stones were destroyed and they had no way to get their friends back.   
Tony wanted to puke. He felt empty, cold and dead. The boy’s face and his last words as Stark had cradled him in his arms had haunted him _for days_ when he was stranded on that ship with only an android for company while he was slowly dying.

But just a few days after his return on Earth, a woman named Hope Pym showed up on the compound’s security cameras, accompanied by Ant Man, and they said they had a solution. They’d go back in time and collect the stones before Thanos could get ahold of them and bring everyone back. One night was all it took for Stark to make Time Heist a reality and no longer something from a good sci fi movie. He couldn’t wait to tell Peter about it.

They made two teams.   
Banner, Rhodey, Lang, Nebula and Barnes came with him to New York during the Chitauri invasion of 2012. Rhodey and Nebula had to find Loki’s scepter while Bruce and James would try to convince the Ancient one to hand them the Time Stone and Tony accompanied by Scott would get the Tesseract.  
There were some complications, and both him and his parent’s murderer found themselves in the 70’s, talking to an enthusiastic Howard Stark. Despite being very a emotional moment for Tony, Bucky’s horrified face was almost comical.

“Chill out dude, you haven’t slaughtered him yet so enjoy. Really, out of all people I had to stumble across my father when I’m with you.”

Thor, Rocket, Natasha and Clint went to Asgard in 2013 to steal the Reality Stone from the god’s girlfriend at that time.  
Thor couldn’t explain how happy he was Thanos hadn’t had the time to destroy the Soul stone and Power stone, the two most powerful he had used to destroy the others. He mentioned a required sacrifice.  
Unfortunately, Nebula‘s cybernetic implants incapacitated her and she was captured by her own past self, which led to 2014 Thanos knowing of his future failure and their plan.  
Bruce snapped, he brought everyone back. And then Thanos’ army attacked. Everything was destroyed, the compound was no more. When Tony thought they stood no chance against him, a portal opened and T’challa, Okoyo and Shuri stepped in, soon followed by dozen of other portals leading to Wakanda, Titan and Kamar Taj. Strange brought everyone to the fight. And finally they were joined by Carol who destroyed the enemy’s ships like they were simple lego toys.

Tony hugged Peter.

At some point during the fight, Stark’s gaze caught Strange’s. He raised a single finger, meaning this was the only future where they’d win. So Tony had focused all his attention on Thanos and took ahold of the stones. He felt their power burning through his veins as he raised his arm, ready to snap. But at the very moment, he felt a hand resting on his shoulder. He turned around to face Peter.  
The kid was soon followed by Natasha then Carol then Rhodey then everyone else. And that’s how they had won.  
That’s how they had defeated the mad titan. 

Tony woke up, panting and gasping for air. He had fallen asleep on his couch once again.

_______________

“Boss, you have a meeting with Sergeant Barnes in 15.”

“I know sweetheart, I..am aware.” He styled his hair in front of his mirror and double checked his black suit. “Fri, do we have any red tie left?”

“Plenty. Your heart rate is accelerating Boss.”

“I’m—why would you need to point that out, Jesus! I’m a little stressed okay? Haven’t seen the man since Thanos and that... very awkward moment with my father.” Tony grabbed a pair of orange tinted glasses and headed for the garage. “He still freaks me out by the way.”

“I can cancel the meeting then.”

“N-what—don’t! It’s fine, I’ll handle it. It’s my fault, I’m the problem. He’s been nothing but nice to me and that’s also why I decided to help him, right? I’m not gonna run away like a little bitch just because I have to face him!”

“Do you want me to call Happy?”

“Nah, I cam drive just fine, sweetheart.” He hopped in his metallic grey lamborghini huracan and started the engine. A few minutes laters, he parked loudly in front of the Avengers compound leaving a trail of smoke behind him. Tony adjusted is tie and took a deep breath in before stepping in the brand new building that housed the new heroes. It had been built just outside the city but far from the previous one’s location. Let’s say that Stark didn’t need another trip down memory lane. 

“Stark? What in Thor’s name are you doing here?”

“Val!?” Tony was startled a the sigh of Brunnhilde, sitting down on one of the couches of the common areas. She was wearing a long grey hoodie with black boots and her hair was braided as usual. Seeing her out of her casual outfit was definitely a rare thing, “I should ask you the same, lady.”

“Well,” she got up and walked towards the kitchen area. “I’m just chilling y’know? Taking some time for myself while the others are out fighting some evil being.”

“But aren’t you supposed to be like, in Norway? Or wherever Point Break settled his people?”

“Oh yeah, well, as I said I’m taking a break aaaand... we had a rescue mission yesterday. I was so bored I actually tagged along!” She grabbed a beer in the fridge.

“I see,” Stark snorted as he noticed the huge amount of alcohol stocked in the fridge. “Definitely not for the celebration. Anyways, not that I want to ditch you but I gotta go, got some pretty shitty but unfortunately serious business to deal with.”

She eyed him skeptically. “You want me to come with you?”

“No I’m good, definitely got this.” He ran a hand through his curls.

“Sure man, see you around.”

____________

“Hello Mr. Barnes. Or should I call you by your name?”

The genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist sat at his desk in one of the small offices of the building. Trying to keep his cool in front of his parent’s murderer was a rather difficult thing to do but the hours of training and reciting im front of his mirror seemed to pay off.  
The Great War veteran was wearing a dark leather jacket on top of a black shirt and was-was his hair short? Tony repressed a surprised gasp at the sight. This was definitely new, and the man looked the guy Rogers had showed on the pics. He looked like Bucky Barnes from the 40’s. But better.

Barnes considered the question for a while before licking his lips in nervousness and slowly looking up.  
“I think...James would be fine.”

“James it is then.” He leaned forward on his desk and focused all his attention on the younger—older?—man. “So James, have you made a choice? I want you to know it is fine either way.”

“I did. I’m in. I want to become an Avenger.” The words resonated in Stark’s mind. The whole situation was fucked up and he had no idea how he had ended up recruiting the man that was the reason the Avengers had split into the team. Or in fact he did, it was because he had realized James Buchanan Barnes was a victim who had never asked for his psycho best friend to go against the whole world for him and he had done everything in his power to help him because it was the only way to put his mind at peace. “I’ve thought this through. Going back to a ‘normal’ life isn’t something I could do, not something I think I would be allowed to. After everything I’ve done and the bad I’ve caused I think the least I can do is to help make the world a better place.”

Tony sighed, relieved. “I’m glad. But I want to make sure of one thing Barnes. I want to make sure your action isn’t driven by guilt.”  
The ex-assassin stared at him. He looked lost. “I can tell by experience that guilt will make you do things, because you think you have to do it or else you’ll never make peace with your own demons. But in this case, joining the Avengers is something that requires dedication. It requires putting the others before yourself, it requires self-sacrifices. Doing it as an attempt at redemption would only be making it about yourself. But I think you’re aware of that, you were a Sergeant after all.”

James exhaled softly. “Yes, I know. That’s why I joined the army to defend my country. I truly want to help if I’m allowed to.”

“Great. That’s awesome.” He handed him a pen. “I’ll just need you to sign here. You quarters are located on the East Wing but FRIDAY will show you around. You have access to the entire building and all Avengers facilities.” He whispered. “Incase you didn’t know, I’m building another compound in California, for the weather.”

Barnes put down the pen and handed him the document. “Thank you.”

“James Barnes,” Stark shook confidently the man’s strong hand. “Welcome to the Avengers.”

 

“Are you okay Boss? You heart rate is quite high.”

“I’m fantastic babygirl, I actually feel like a new man. I did something great today and to celebrate that, It think I’ll have some cheeseburgers.”

“Cheeseburgers it is.” The AI answered as she ordered the food.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you guys say Tony and Stephen don’t interact THAT much but this story is a slowburn and it will take them ages to acknowledge their feelings because they are both idiots


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl I write like shit. Like I don’t read enough books in english to know basic vocabulary so this looks like it has been written by a 3yo.   
> Also, this chapter includes a little bit of hurt/comfort?

Stephen Strange was just out of a meeting in Kamar Taj when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. Wong would always make fun of him for owning one but never actually using it. A sorcerers, the simplest way to talk to someone was to step out of a portal in their living room and since they were ghosts to society, they didn’t need to worry about mutuals wanting to chat. They had laptops, yes, but rare were the ones owning the brand new StarkPhone.  
He struggled for a moment, trying to reach for it but the thing was buried in his robe. He finally found the right pocket and looked at the screen. There was a notification from FRIDAY and several missed calls. Strange frowned. _Can you answer a phone call from an A.I?_ He excused himself from the other masters as he walked in the snowy courtyard and answered the call.

“Mr. Strange?” The irish voice urgently asked.

“Y-yeah, FRIDAY? What’s going on?”

“It’s about Boss. He collapsed again.”

“Stark? Where is he?” Again?

“In his penthouse, at the Stark Tower in New York. I need you to help him.” The A.I was starting to sound panicked and Stephen wondered if it was an emotion robots could feel.

“Sure, I’m on my way. Is he hurt?” The Sorcerer bit his lower lip.

“He is. I can’t run a full scan as Boss is no longer wearing his armor, but he came back from a mission severely injured and did not think of dressing his wounds.” Strange had already created a portal to one of the Metro-General Hospital to grab an emergency kit. He knew the place well and asking FRIDAY for photos of Stark’s med bay would take way too long. “However, I think he fainted due to his lack sleep and food.”

“ _Idiot._ ” Stephen mumbled as he created yet another portal to the Stark Tower. He stepped in the hall and reached for the elevator. 

“I feel the same way. He definitely is an idiot.” The Sorcerer scoffed at the comment. Where had she learned sass? Oh—wait. Obviously. Stark. “Taking you to Boss’ quarters.” 

“FRIDAY, give me his vitals.”

“They’re low, his pulse is slow and he’s unconscious.”

“Yeah, not great.” He took he sharp breath in. “And...FRIDAY? Why did you call me? What about the Avengers?”

“The Avengers are not on his list of people to contact in case of an emergency.”

“What about his CEO.. p-Potts? Pepper Potts?”

“Boss specifically forbade me to contact her in this case. Though I would if no one else had come.”

“And what about War Machine, the kid?”

“Spider Man is also not to disturb. As to Colonel Rhodes, he was in Wakanda when I informed him and will only arrive in 1 hour and 28 minutes.”

The metallic doors of the elevator opened and the man’s eyes widened at the sight of the luxurious furnitures. He had, at some point in his life, enjoyed this kind of decorating but even his watch collection couldn’t match Stark’s penthouse interior. Huge, rich couches were facing a marble fireplace and on their right, a gigantic bay window offered a magnificent view on Ney York’s skyline.

“Stark?” He called out hesitantly. Because no one answered, he searched the suite for a while, before he stumbled across the billionaire. He was laying on the floor just next to his king-sized bed and was still wearing his black turtleneck suit. Strange ran at his side and turned him over, placing a shaking hand to steady the man’s head.

“Stark, can you hear me?” Strange noticed a bloody gash on the man’s right cheek. Blood was dripping from his left side and abdomen and he probably had a concussion. Strange took deep breathes in, trying to suppress the panic he gelt rising in him. It seemed like he had collapsed on the now blood-stained white carped in an unsuccessful attempt to reach his bed. Which didn’t look like anyone had slept in it for ages.   
Using his magic, the Doctor lifted the man and laid him softly down on the mattress. He was clearly unconscious, which wasn’t such a bad thing considering Strange wouldn’t have to lecture the hero right away. He decided to focus on the two injuries on his side and abdomen which had probably been caused by a violent shock and a sharp object, stabbing him through a weakened nano armor. Stephen rolled his eyes when he was brought to rip Tony’s black leather top to get a better access to it. And the man was out. Hopefully nobody would enter the room. Would be weird.  
He managed to stitch the wounds and secure them while the Cloak was “handing” him the proper tools.   
He washed his hands and sat back on the bed next to Stark.

“FRIDAY? When will Colonel Rhodes be here?” Leaving the man alone was not an option.

“In about 27 minutes. He has been informed of your intervention and would like to share his gratitude towards you.”

Strange looked down as the genius groaned in pain. “W...what..where...”

“Stark...Tony.” He put his black gloves back on. He had changed to a normal outfit as his Sorcerer clothes showed themselves rather inconvenient when working on an injured person.

“W-Wizard? What..what are you doing here..I..”

“Your A.I called me. It seems that you have really not been cautious and passed out on your bedroom floor. Had to stitch you up a bit.”

Tony’s gaze hovered for a moment, before falling back on the Sorcerer. “Why you out of all people?” he frowned.

Stephen shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her. Your friend James should be here in a few minutes.”

“...fuck.” He ran a trembling hand through his black curls and winced at the pain. “Rhodey Bear shouldn’t have been—“

“If I may, he was the only person you allowed me to contact in case of an emergency.” FRIDAY cut in, her tone sounding annoyed.

“...right. Still. I fucked u-up. I should bother him I-agh!” The brunette tried to sit up but the pain caused him to flinch. Strange placed a firm hand on his shoulder and lowered him back down.

“I think it’s weird to have friends if none of them are supposed to help you.”

“And since when do you know _anything_ about friends, Strange?”

Cold blue eyes stared at him and when the trembling hand withdrew Stark realized how mean his comment was. “S-sorry I...” He looked away. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s fine.” Stephen also stared at the window, wondering if the genius actually meant it.

“Hey...since when is waking up half-naked with a wizard in my bed a thing? Don’t you think we’re going a little bit too fast? I usually take people I actually care about on a date first” Tony teased. Stephen rolled his eyes. 

“And since when is receiving a distress call from your AI saying you’re half-dead and no one else but me can help you a thing? Sorry but I’m as confused as you on this one. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you’re not protecting anyone by not telling them when you’re in danger, that’s ridiculous Stark.” He pointed accusingly at the man. “Being hurt doesn’t mean being weak, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

“It’s not...!” Stark wanted to argue, but he felt way too exhausted to do so. “Whatever, Harry Potter, this is none of your business. But..thanks anyway.”

Stephen internally scoffed. _Yeah, definitely his business_. He still couldn’t quite wrap his head around the fact that the man had collapsed because of his lack of sleep and not his blood loss. He was an idiot.

“When was the last time you slept? And don’t let FRIDAY answer this for you, coward.”

Stark tried not to feel offended, but he couldn’t help it. He sighed. “Since the l-last time you asked or...” Strange nodded.

“Well, it’s been like 4 days, ‘is okay, I can do much longer you’d be impres-“ Stephen promptly stood up. Tony was smiling at him like a damn kid, like if all of this was okay. “I can’t believe it. You’re worse than what they all say, are you aware of it? What...what if I was, I don’t know, off fighting inter-dimensional threats and didn’t come? You would have bled all over your carpet! You think of all of this as a game Stark? Because if yes, you’re an idiot!”

Tony stared at him, his big chocolate brown eyes studying him before his lips curved into a small smile.  
“I’m thankful for your concern Doc, I really am, but countless times this exact situation occurred and y...you weren’t there. I’m grateful you came to help, but you should know that by the end of the day, I always am the one to stitch my own wounds.” He winced as he repositioned himself on his pillow.

Strange was taken aback by the statement. He felt something heavy on his chest as he stared back at the smaller man. He inhaled softly and moved to the entrance of the room. “You need to eat, Stark.”

“No, I need to sleep.” He waved his hand in a “duh” gesture.

“No, not before you eat anything that isn’t coffee. Or you won’t be able to rest well.” 

“Sure, Wizard, I’ll just call the pizz- hey w-what are you doing?!” He called out at the noise coming from the kitchen area.” 

His curiosity won, and he was fighting to stay awake (and conscious) when Strange reappeared a few minutes later, a pan and a glass of water hovering next to him.  
The Sorcerer placed a silver platter on the man’s legs and helped him up.

“Bacon and eggs. Eat.”

Tony’s eyes fluttered in confusion and he turned bright red when he realized Stephen Strange had cooked all of this for him. 

“I gotta go, Rhodes should be here soon. Please don’t try to die next time, that’d be unfortunate.” The taller man opened a portal with his sling ring and disappeared, leaving behind a few orange sparks, and a startled Tony Stark. He covered his flushed face with his hand, thinking of how the last time they had seen each other, Strange had joked about how he wished Stark was dead.

“Now that’s character development.”

 

_come back. ___

__“What? Who —“_ _

___you need to come back._ _ _

__Stark felt a shiver running down his spine. He kept hearing this deep, hoarse voice telling him to_ go back, come back,_ in the back of his mind. He had since he went to Alaska. At first, he had ignored it, thinking he was so exhausted he was hearing voices. It had happened before, but this time it was different.  
Whenever Tony was feeling down, he’d feel like he had to go back to this place and he couldn’t put his finger on why exactly . So just like that, the next day, he was off to Alaska once again.

_______________

_Hey...since when is waking up half-naked with a wizard in my bed a thing? Don’t you think we’re going a little bit too fast?_

_I usually take people I actually care about on a date first._

Strange chocked on his drink. On the other side of the table, Wong stared at him wide-eyed.

“You okay over there?”

“Yeah, totally. Swallowed down the windpipe.” He coughed again, his face all flushed.

Did Stark mean it? That he only took people he _cared_ about on a date? The man had a playboy reputation so Stephen had no doubt he would have sex with strangers with no strings attached but then why tell him this out of all people?   
The Sorcerer frowned. Stark had just woken up so obviously he wasn’t fully aware of what he could’ve said. Plus why was Stephen focusing on such details? _Idiot._  
His phone started ringing so he took the call, a bit confused.

“Colonel Rhodes?”

“Hi Strange. I’m just wondering if you have maybe seen Tony? I know you came over to help him yesterday, by the way thank you for that, but he’s nowhere to be seen today and he isn’t answering his phone either. I thought he might be with you, since I heard you guys were working on some magic stuff.”

“You’re welcome. And no, I thought he would still be in bed as of now, he’s injured. Did you ask FRIDAY about it?”

“Yeah obviously, but she can’t tell me anything. That’s just how Tones is. As long as she doesn’t contact me it should mean he isn’t in danger, but still, running off to god knows where wasn’t supposed to be his thing...anymore.”

Strange sighed. “I see. Well, if you ever find him, tell him he’s being irresponsible.”

“Oh I’ll make sure of it Doc. Thank you anyway!”

Stephen looked down at his phone for a while. So now Stark had disappeared, great. Would he ever stop being so impetuous? Both him and Wong looked up as a portal suddenly appeared in the room and a master stepped in.

“Master Wong, Master Strange. The Shadow Entities are back.”

“Master Choi. Where?” Wong promptly got up.

“In Kamchatka.”

The smaller man cursed under his breath. “Okay, we’ll have to make use of he spell we practiced, gather the other masters that learned it.”

Strange saluted the other master before turning to Wong. “Do you need my help?”

“We should be fine. We will trap them in the mirror dimension to contain them. You should keep an eye on the Sanctum. Oh and because I don’t know how long I’ll be gone...” He opened a small portal and reached for some old books before handing them to Stephen. “This is all I was able to gather about the Lost Dimension. You won’t get bored here, believe me.”

The two masters went through the large portal Master Choi had conjured, leaving Stephen alone in the Sanctum, with a pile of dusty books in his arms.

Well, reading wouldn’t hurt anybody. Most of the books were incomplete and only mentioned the Lost Dimension in a few lines and Strange needed details. One of the books caught his attention. The cover was a dark crimson red laced by golden strings. The book was about all the different dimensions discovered over the centuries and after a little while, the Sorcerer Supreme found the single page dedicated to the Lost Dimension.

It was said the Lost Dimension was an unknown dimension and only a few, well trained masters knew about its existence. It was like a mirror dimension of ours, but empty and dark. Any changes that would occur in our dimension would affect it, but the Lost Dimension was also called the Dead Dimension for a reason : it had no inhabitants. No form of life. Nothing. At least that’s what they thought. In 1308, a Sorcerer of the Ilkhan Empire had found out that the dimension contained a powerful energy but this “Lost Energy” was channeled inside of it and couldn’t spread to other dimensions. It assured the stability of this dead world and was never to be disturbed.

In 1598, a Chinese master had discovered a form of unknown magic emanating from a place in the mountains. It appeared that once every century, breaches would appear in random places all around our universe. They were due to an increasing amount of energy in the parallel, Lost dimension at those exact places. The chinese master kept a diary and he had wrote down “someone had to be living there.” 

Because mistakes are something natural, this energy field contained in the Lost dimension would stop being even. At some point, a particle of this energy wouldn’t appear where it should have and just like gravity at the beginning of times, the other particles around the gap would gather all together in a gigantic amount of energy, creating... and entity. Made of this energy.  
In 1599, that same master wrote down the “invisible breach kept calling him and asking him to go back there.” He did and was never seen alive again.  
Some other notes had been added by different masters throughout the years. These entities needed hosts to survive but even then, they couldn’t make it further than a few weeks, but the very unlucky person they would succeed to possess would obviously die. There was a mention of exorcism. Nothing more.

Stephen closed the book and moved a strand of grey hair from his forehead. So if the notes were right, a breach had appeared in Alaska because of the presence of an entity on the other side. He would have to check it out, as it could still be dangerous.

_Have you seen Tony? He’s nowhere to be seen today and he isn’t answering his phone either. I thought he might be with you, since I heard you guys were working on some magic stuff._

Hold on. Stark had been the first person on the site of the breach. And now he was missing. Could it be that—

“Shit!” Stephen mumbled as he gestured to his Cloak which flew around his shoulders in a gracious move. He immediately conjured a portal to Alaska. 

_______________

“Stark!” He found the man standing in the middle of the ghost town they had visited a few days before. He was wearing his nanotechnology armor, a model similar to the one he had used to fight Thanks but visibly improved, and the helmet was down. His hair was coated in snow and Stephen could see the confusion in his eyes as he turned to the Sorcerer.

“Strange? What are you doing here?”

“I should ask you the same. What are _you_ doing here? I recall telling you there was nothing to worry about this place, the particles you detected are only a remaining of a spell.”

“Oh yeah?” The smaller man exclaimed as he pointed accusingly at the other man, anger filling his big eyes. “And I recall you telling me this too, so why are _you_ here and why do you look so _worried_ about me? I think it’s time you spill it out already, _wizard._ ”

Strange swallowed thickly before he sighed heavily. “Fine.” Tony raised an eyebrow, clearly pissed Stephen had hidden the truth from him.

“It’s not caused by powerful spell. Nothing I told you was true.”

The Avenger tried to remind calm and steady, but it almost impossible. Someone had lied to him, again. And it hurt.

“We believe there’s a breach to another dimension just here. We call it the Lost Dimension. It’s a place exactly like ours but everything is dark, and dead, and empty. And for the short answer, well, the peak of energy you’ve detected is caused by the presence of an entity of the other side of that breach. I didn’t wanna tell you this because I thought I could fix it myself. I didn’t know you’d come back, and I’m sorry for lying to you when you trusted me enough to seek for my help in the first place..”

 

Stark stared at him for a while before speaking up.  
“So is it a fucking Demogorgon I’m hearing my head?”

“A what?”

“You just told me the Upside Down was real and that the reason I’m hearing voices is because some dude is living in there, so yeah, is it a fucking Domogorgon talking to me?”

“W—who’s talking to you? What’s the Upside Down?”

“Well I have been hearing voices since I first came here, telling me to come back and that’s precisely why I’m here today! And have you never heard of Stranger Things?”

“Stranger w— is this another one of your bad puns?”

“Oh god, I can’t believe this. FRIDAY can you believe this?”

“I can’t believe it Boss.”

“You uncultured swine. I thought you’d at least have Netflix at your dark dusty place but turns out I was wrong. But that’s not the point. What are you gonna do about it Eleven? Because I need to be able to focus on my work and not be disturbed by a creepy voice every now and then.”

Strange stared at the snowy mountains the turned back to the genius. “I guess I could try to figure out what’s going on.”

“You? Hmm I don’t think so Stephanie. This concerns me, so if you go I go.

“Oh yeah? Together till death do us part, don’t you think we’e goin to fast, Stark?” Stephen teased and Tony bit his lip. “More seriously, I don’t think you actually wanna come.”

“I do.”

“You don’t. You’re terrified of magic.” _That’s the reason why I thought I need to lie to you in the first place._

“First of, I might be, but being scared doesn’t mean I don’t wanna do things, it’s part of the job. And also, I’m not scared of your magic.  
 _Well that’s a first._

Stephen Strange considered Stark’s words for a while. “Okay, fine. But don’t try anything crazy out there, we don’t know who’s our enemy.” He took a few steps back and conjured a portal to the Lost Dimension. Creating portals to other dimensions had been part of his training as Sorcerer Supreme, but the sight of the black, glowing circle in front of him couldn’t be any good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys next chapter is were the gore warnings come in. Gonna be rough


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it, I’m the worse.

Things were only starting to get weird.  
As soon as Dr. Strange and Iron Man entered the Lost Dimension, the portal collapsed behind them in a horrifying noise.

“What was that?” The genius jumped on his spot.

“I have no idea, it seems like it was unstable.”

“Well, couldn’t get any better...”

The two men turned around and were surprisingly greeted by the exact same landscape. They were still in the abandoned town surrounded by frozen plains and snowy mountains. The thing was, this version of their world was visibly darker and the sky was a dull purple. The houses looked way older and even more damaged than in their dimension. And everything was so still. They stood silent for a while. 

“There’s no wind.” Stark pointed out, but the Sorcerer was already walking ahead. “Strange where are you going? Don’t leave me here buddy!”

“Then walk.” Strange glared at the smaller man as he jogged behind him.

“Can’t a scientist just enjoy the view? It’s my first time traveling to another dimension, sorry if I’m not used to it. Tho it looks so...familiar.”

“This dimension mirrors ours, remember?”

“Oh yeah, right, the upside down thing.” Strange rolled his eyes at yet another reference to a series from the billionaire. They had been walking for a few minutes when he spoke up.

“I’m sorry for lying to you Stark.”

“It’s okay.”

“It really isn’t. I know... I know you had to handle many betrayals and you had to deal with so many lies.” I’ve seen 14,000,605 futures, and I should have known how bad of an idea it was because I saw how much you hurt. No, he couldn’t say that. “I knew how much magic frightened you and I thought... like an idiot I thought I would preserve you in some way by not telling you. I just thought I would fix his problem myself and you wouldn’t have to be bothered.”

“You’re really making a big deal out of a simple lie Snape, I said it was okay.”

Strange laid his eyes on the man as they kept walking. He still looked exhausted and the dark circles on his face were still visible. He noticed Stark had gotten rid of the bandage of his cheek and the gash was exposed. He hated himself for letting him go. Clearly all of this was far from being “okay”.   
They arrived at the center of the village where remained stones that used to be a fountain and wood debris and stones were scattered all around the place “So where’s the creepy monster Doc?”

“I’m going to try to locate it.” He closed his eyes just to open them back a few second later, confusion visible on his face as mumbled under his breath.

“What’s the matter?”

Strange frowned. “I don’t-I don’t understand. It’s no working.”

“What’s not working?”

The Sorcerer exhaled sharply as he started to move his hand in an attempt to cast a spell but only a few orange sparkles appeared. His hands started to shake uncontrollably as he turned to the other man, adrenaline rushing down his brain.

“My magic. It’s not _working_.”

“Have you trie—“

“I’m telling you I can’t use my magic!” Then it all became clear to him. All the masters that had ever entered the Lost Dimension had never been see again. But a simple portal could have brought them back to our dimension if they had happened to be in danger. So the only possible explanation for it was that they had never been able to create a portal. Because magic didn’t work in the Lost Dimension, and the only way to connect both dimensions was to create a portal from the outside.  
Then the Cloak fell off his shoulder, like a random piece of fabric, like it had never been a relic.

“Well fuck. That can’t be good.” Iron Man’s helmet formed around his head as the repulsors were turned on. “This just became even creepier. You absolutely need to figure that out.”

“I’m trying!” Stephen tried different gestures, in vain. The sparkles started to fade and he soon found himself defenseless, not even able to conjure a simple shield.

“Uh Strange?”

“I’m telling you that I’m trying!”

“Yeah I got it, but.., you might wanna look at _that._ ” The Sorcerer joined the other man. “My radar have been peeking a very strong signal, a spike of that energy just next to—“ A loud noise echoed in the empty space and he automatically shoot of beam from his right hand in its direction, only destroying one of the houses. Tony’s breathe became jerky and sweat ran down his forehead as he scanned the area.  
FRIDAY automatically detected the energy peak, and he stopped breathing when the captor showed a mass of energy, shaped like a human body.

“There’s something over there.”

“We need to fuck out of here.”

“Strange?”

Both men could see it now and suddenly the dark purple shape rushed towards them. It took only a few seconds for Tony to realize it was heading toward the Sorcerer, and the man hadn’t even realized it yet as he was still panicked about his magic vanishing. So he was defenseless and God knows what the creature could do.   
Tony jumped in front of him without thinking twice, in an attempt to protect him. The collision made an awful noise and the pain was unbearable. His mind went blank.

Strange looked up, sweat coating his hair. “Stark?” The other man was standing still a few feet from him and Stephen realized he had just jumped in front of him to protect him. The smaller man brought his hands to his head shook it helplessly, groaning in pain.

“Stark are you o—“

The Iron Man armor retracted back into the arc reactor and the man was only left in his black turtleneck suit. “Unknown identity. Armor shutdown.” was all FRIDAY said before the blue glow of the center piece went dark. _Unknown identity?_

Stark slowly looked up and Strange was horrified to see that his eyes were glowing a dark purple.

_“These entities need hosts to survive.”_

_“The very unlucky person they succeed to possess will obviously die.”_

This couldn’t be happening. Not to him. Stephen had been such an idiot to bring him along. 

“Hi Strange.” He breathed heavily when Stark spoke to him with his familiar voice.

“Tony you—“

“Really? Have you not figured, Sorcerer Supreme?” He took a few step forwards and leaned in front of the taller man. “He’s not here anymore.” He gestured vaguely at his own head.

“Let him go.”

“Why would I do such a thing when it allows me to survive?” He cocked his head to the side, studying the Sorcerer. “I need him.”

“But not you. You, _you’re a threat_.” 

Stephen didn’t even notice Tony’s fist until it connected with his jaw with such strength it sent him flying to the ground. He tried to get up, but another punch landed on his face and his nose made an awful “crack”. It had to be fractured. Blood dripped down chin and he rolled to the side to avoid another one.

“Stark! This isn’t you, you need to fight this!”

“You’re right, it isn’t him. He’s here and he can hear you but he’s not... in control anymore.” He punched Stephen in the stomach and the man bent forward in pain.  
“And he’s gonna have to watch this.”

“Not so easy without the magic, is it? Now we’re even.” He tried to punch him again, but this time Strange caught his arm and pressed it to his chest as he landed blow to the pretty face. He bit his lip, the pain in his scarred hand was unbearable. Stark, or whoever—whatever— was controlling his mind, spat blood on the ground and Strange found himself frozen on the spot, horrified by what he had just done. This wasn’t Tony, yes, but it was still his body.  
The fight went on and Strange was unable to really fight back as he was torn between hurting the genius or letting the possessed man kill him. He didn’t know how to espace this dimension anyway. He was utterly lost.  
At some point, he gathered all his strength and managed to create a lasso. The glowing object immobilized Tony and they found themselves on the ground, a Stephen on his back and Stark on top of him, both bloody, hurt and panting.  
The genius’ eyebrow was a messy gash of blood and he flinched at the sight. He stared back into his eyes but none of their usual fondness could be found : the chocolate brown iris was a glowing purple and they look empty. And cold.  
Stark smirked. Strange could just pull on the lasso to slit his throat if he wanted.

“Do it.” He said.

But Strange couldn’t resolve to do so. _He just couldn’t._

The lasso started to flicker and the remains of his magic vanished away. The man in front of him pulled back and stood up, a confused frown on his face.

“You can’t do it.” It was almost a question.

The Sorcerer leaned back against a stone wall and closed his eyes.

“Because you care about him.”

He exhaled softly. 

“Well I guess...” Stephen slowly stood up, his legs failing to support him and watched the other man lean forward and grab a piece of very sharp wood from the ground. He brandished it in front of him. “...This just got way more interesting.”

Strange’s eyes widened in horror as he brought the piece of wood to his forearm and started slitting his wrist from the bottom to the top, leaving a trail that soon turned int a flow of dark blood dripping down his arm and on the cold ground.

“What are you doing?” He asked out of breath.

“What a way to kill time that to watch your reaction, right? Delightful, I bet this hurts.”

Strange was paralyzed, unable to do or say anything. Torture, that was what it was. Pure Torture, and he couldn’t try to stop him as he would just get beaten up all over again. Stark slit his other wrist all the way up so both his forearms were opened on the entire length and he flinched, looking away as he was unable to face the man.

“C’mon, look at it! After all, I’m just re-opening old scars!”

“Stop it.” He ran to the man and grabbed his upper arms which made him drop the bloody piece of wood before he stared in his eyes. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Tony smirked before smashing their foreheads together, the impact making Strange stumble backwards.

The Sorcerer felt like he was about to puke at the sight of the pool of blood growing bigger by the second.

“You’re hurting y-yourself, why?”

“I just told you, I’m having fun! Oh, and if you’re worried about me damaging this body, well now that you can’t use your magic you’re defenseless. I’ll just take over your mind nex—“ Stark suddenly stopped and stared in the distance and then down at the injured man in front of him. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m n-not—“

“How are you doing this?”

Strange stared at Tony in confusion when he felt a tingling sensation in his hands and looked down to see they were glowing orange. He locked his wrists together and made a surprised noise when two magic shields immediately formed before him. Strange had no idea how it could be possible, but his magic was back. He stood up to face his opponent and smirked.

“You’re so fucked.”

He gathered all his strength and lifted both his arms in the air as yellow strings pierced through the ground and wrapped around Tony’s ankles, arms and neck, forming a glowing cage around him that made it impossible to escape. During his stay in Kamar Taj, Stephen had learned many, many useful spells and he knew exactly which one would force that thing out of Tony’s body and kill it.  
They used it during exorcisms, when one’s body happened to be possessed by a mystic creature. They would leave the rest to the church.  
Stephen Strange cast the powerful spell and green triangles joined in a pattern around Tony. He moved his fingers and they started glowing and the same horrible screeching could be heard. Soon, the dark shape of the entity was forced out and it started dissolving before totally it totally disappeared, only leaving black ash-like remains floating in the air.  
Stephen panted, exhausted, as he looked up at Tony.

The man was standing in front him, glancing in confusion at his surroundings. He had dried blood on his forehead and nose and he had to have several broken ribs.  
Dark curls were sticking to his forehead and his skin was so, so pale. Strange exhaled. His eyes were that beautiful caramel and chocolate brown again.

“S..Stephen?” He stared at him before looking down at his arms. Blood was still running down his fingers and dripping on the ground and Stephen realized he had lost too much. Way too much.

Tony collapsed in front of him.

“Tony!”

——————

 

Christine Palmer had just arrived at the Metro General Hospital for her night shift when the very familiar voice of the ex-neurosurgeon echoed in the corridor.

“A doctor! This man needs a doctor!” 

She put down her files and rolled her eyes. “Not again...” She turned around and gasped at the sight of an injured Stephen Strange holding a man that seemed passed out and in an even worse condition in his arms, bridal style.

“Stephen!”

“Christine. Please help him.” Several doctors were already rushing towards them and she looked down at the man cradled in his arms. 

“Is this...”

“Tony Stark, yes. He has u-undergone a severe loss of blood, his pulse is failing I-I...”

“It’s okay Stephen, we’re going to take care of him.” She tried to reassure him as Tony was taken away from him. “I’m going to take care of him. Are you okay?”

“I’m p-perfectly fine. Please go.” She studied him suspiciously before nodding and heading to the ER.

“ _Thank you. _” Stephen whispered and his eyelashes started to flutter.__

__A nurse came up to him. “Are you alright Sir?”_ _

__“I’m fine.” He fainted in front of her._ _


End file.
